Hence poetry is something more philosophic and of graver import than history, since its statements are rather of the nature of universals, whereas those of history are singulars. – Aristotle

Of the twenty-two civilizations that have appeared in history, nineteen of them collapsed when they reached the moral state the United States is in now. – Arnold J. Toynbee

The greatest tragedy in mankinds entire history may be the hijacking of morality by religion. – Arthur C. Clarke